Rivals in the Cold
by Mecearth
Summary: The snowy mountain brings a sick May to a worried Drew. Need I explain more? Contestshipping DAML! Oneshot. R&R please!


**Rivals in the Cold, a Pokemon oneshot**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, fullstop.

A/N: Hey, Mecearth here! This is my first Pokemon oneshot and I hope you enjoy it! It's obviously contestshipping (DAML) and maaaaaybe a bit of AshxMay, if you'd like to see it that way… But it won't end the way you'd want it to end, AxM fans!

Summary: The snowy mountain brings a sick May to a worried Drew. Need I explain more? Contestshipping (DAML)! Oneshot. R&R please!

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May was freezing beneath her shabby cloak which she was having trouble keeping herself in. She shivered and tried to blow out small puffs of warm breath on her hands to soothe the cold but alas – it did not work!

She fumbled with her pokeballs on her waistband and with much difficulty, found the pokeball with Combusken in it. With a small flick of her wrist (she had no energy to throw it all out), she summoned her very favoured Pokemon.

"Comb-comb-combusken… C-c-could you p-p-please..w-warmm…" May stuttered and with every stutter, she seemed to be losing her energy.

Combusken understood and immediately wrapped its feathery arms around her to lend her its heat. May, feeling much more comfortable than ever in her journey through the snowy mountain pass, slipped into unconsciousness.

In her dream, it was like major dejavu back to the past. She and the usual gang had gone through the mountain pass together – except she got distracted, stumbled and fell two storeys into a thick layer of snow. The others had not realized that she was missing and cluelessly continued on. It was only a while later, when they had reached the mountain top shelter that they started to panic and call out for May.

"MAY!" Ash boomed, calling out her name to the vast blanket of snow that seemed to go on forever.

"Ash, if you keep going on like that, the snow's bound to crumble and form a landslide!" Max hollered, equally as panicked as Ash.

"The wise thing to do is to dispatch and search for May using our Pokemon so that we won't get lost either." Brock suggested. The rest nodded.

"I'll stay here in case she arrives. Brock, you can take follow the path we'd taken earlier on and Ash, you just find another way," Max half-ordered. Ash stared at him irritably.

"You're not the boss of me, little guy!" Ash retorted, panic getting to him.

"But she's my sister! She could FREEZE out there!"

**MEANWHILE….**

May moaned and groggily opened her eyes. She stirred a little and gasped at the sudden blast of wind that smacked her in the face. She recollected her thoughts for about a minute and snapped herself up. Combusken!  
With a sigh of relief, she found Combusken asleep next to her. This time, its arms were wrapped around itself for its own warmth.  
May returned it to her pokeball and proceeded to get up and find her way out of this mountain. She tugged a bit at the cloak and groaned in dismay as it dislodged from her shoulders and flew off in the wind.

She was pretty sure the others would be frantically looking for her now. She was confident of them and very sure they would not give up. She smiled, knowing that she wasn't about to die anytime soon in this dreadful cold and put all her faith in them. With her new found hope, she trudged forward through the killer cold.

About an hour later, May could hardly feel any part of her body anymore. She moved around aimlessly, her eyes blurring with freezing tears. From a distance, a familiar green-haired boy watched, astounded.

Drew stared ahead at the aimlessly wandering red-clad girl just about 20 feet away from him. He had reached the mountain pass safely and had decided to train his Pokemon here and stopped for a break. That was when he was huddled in a cave with firewood that he saw May moving towards him.

'Is that May?' he thought to himself, getting up to investigate. He chuckled at her stupid movements and gasped all of a sudden when she collapsed in the snow. 'God! She'd fainted! Where are her friends? She must be lost... And freezing!'

Drew sprinted out of the cave to his long-time rival. He winced at the sudden sting the cold wind brought upon his cheeks. When he reached her, he got to his knees to cradle her in his arms. Yeah, she may be his rival but rivals don't let rivals die, no matter what. Besides, she was more than a rival – she was a good, encouraging friend. Drew widened his eyes considerably at her fragile frame that was wracked with shivers, her pale face and her purplish lips. Her eyes were shut halfway. She almost looked like she was dead.

"God, May! Get up! Speak to me!" Drew muttered and realized that he was choking on something. Choking? On… Tears? He shook her softly and when she refused to open her eyes, he bent his head down to her face. Good, she was breathing.

He practically tore off his winter jacket and wrapped it tightly around her and proceeded to carry her – marriage style – to the heated cave.

In the cave, the fire was still burning strong and he laid her down right next to it. She needed all the warmth she could get. He himself was beginning to freeze and he moved closer to the fire, trying his best to keep warm. But when he stole a few glances in May's direction, God forbid! He'd just wanted to hold her and give her all the warmth he could give. Wait - did he just think what he'd thought??

"Cold…" May suddenly breathed, turning her body to face the fire and that was when she had started to cough a little bit. Drew scooted over next to her and awkwardly patted her back to soothe her coughs. He sweat-dropped when his attempts only made her coughing worse. With blood rushing to his cheeks, he lifted her up from her lying position to a position where she was sitting up straight and rubbed her back softly. Needless to say, he did feel damn awkward doing it to her…

He felt May relax under his arms as her coughing subsided, her back slumping backwards to be in contact with his chest. Drew blushed so much that tomatoes paled in comparison but then shook his head and convinced himself that he was doing this for May's own good – nothing more. That was when he realized his arms encircling around her waist and he jerked himself away from her completely, letting her fall to the ground. When her head hit the ground (not too softly, that is), May's eyes jolted open and straight away surveyed her surroundings. She could not see Drew sitting behind her and hastened to get up, rubbing her sore head.

"Where the hell am I? What am I doing here?" she asked herself, attempting to stand up but her buckling knees hardly encouraged it.

As though in reply, Drew finally had the guts to speak up to notify her of his presence.  
"You collapsed in the snow. I brought you here, so you should be thankful, May," he grinned masochistically, flicking his fringe as she turned around to face him.

"Oh, Drew! I had no idea…"

"Meh, as long as you're fine." May blushed at this. What? she thought.

"But why'd you save me?"

"We're only rivals, you know. Not enemies. Besides, I'm not that heartless to leave poor you lying in the snow like that. I almost thought you were dead!" Drew replied hastily.

"… Well, thanks Drew. You really are kind." May blushed again at the thought of him carrying her and taking care of her while she recuperated.

They stared at each other in awkward silence for a while, their bodies merely a foot away from each other. Embarrassed, they both looked in whatever other direction and blushed deeply. With a shy laugh, May attempted to get up and said "Well I'd better get going. The others must be worried sick!"

She felt her knees buckle under her weight and as she collapsed forward, she felt two hands grip her shoulders to protect her from falling. She looked up to see a worried Drew.

"I'd already let you fall once. I don't think I should do that again. Anyway, you should rest. I'll send out my Pokemon to tell your friends about your whereabouts," Drew spoke in a commanding manner and May could only nod numbly in response.

He lowered her slowly to the ground until she looked like she was sitting down Japanese style. She watched as Drew sent out his Pokemon to search for her friends and she smiled again to herself. She wasn't going to die.

"You should lie down. You look like hell… and your lips are still blue." Drew finally spoke, breaking the short silence.

"You don't look so hot yourself." May replied. "Come and sit down next to the fire. You'll feel much better!"

Drew rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it." But he went on to sit next to May anyway.

They watched the fire curl up to the cave ceiling and crackle as it ate the dry wood. The fire cast flickering shadows on the walls of the cave and May guffawed at the whole beauty of it while waiting for her friends to come. It somehow seemed to lull and comfort her and she felt her eyes close…

Drew, tired of watching the fire, stole a few glances in May's direction and noticed her eyes close. She swayed a bit from side to side and Drew, taking the initiative, scooted closer to her to allow her head to rest on his shoulder. May, feeling the sudden contact, jerked awake and apologized profusely.

"Geez, May. You're having a bad fever. The least I could do is lend you my shoulder for you to rest your head, right?" Drew said irritably.

"You've done enough, Drew. God, this is embarrassing…"

"Do you want my shoulder or not?"

With a brief silence, May hesitantly rested her pounding head to Drew's comfortable shoulder. The wind blew in and the fire threatened to die out, making them both shiver involuntarily. With hesitation, Drew circled one arm around May's waist and pulled her closer to him to keep her warm. Without looking at each other, they knew they were both blushing madly. "You were shivering. Just… Just keeping you warm." He said and when he felt her nod slowly, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. So warm…

"You know, I've seen many sides of you before. Your determined side. Your haughty side. Your sensitive side… But I've never seen your caring side like this before…" May said, getting over her embarrassment.

"I may be mean at times but I'm still human." He replied, smiling a bit. It was true. He'd never been this caring around May before and was shocked at the realism of it all.

He wondered what had made him like this. Had he ever been so nice around anyone? He'd been pretty nice around adoring fan girls, but never this nice. He realized all he wanted to do was to just protect her… But why? Was it because he just wanted tough competition in contests? Or was it because he truly cared?

Just then, a voice rang through the cave. It was unmistakably Ash's.

"MAY! Are you in here?" he hollered, his echoes deafening May and Drew.

May hastened to get up but was still a bit weak in the knees. With her arm around Drew's neck and his arm around her waist, Drew steadied her as she tried to stand.

"She's here, Ash!" Drew called out as Ash jogged into the cave together with Pikachu and Drew's Pokemon.

As Drew passed the weak May over to Ash, Ash conveyed his worry as Drew told him the story. "Aw, thank God you're fine, May! Brock's gone off to make his great warm soup for us – I can't wait! Well, thanks loads Drew. You're great. We'll be off now – The shelter's nearby." Ash said hurriedly, supporting May by his side.

May paused for a bit and turned her head behind to look at Drew. Drew smiled weakly and lifted his hand in a small wave. "See you soon, May," he said. "Take care."

May nodded. "You too" she replied and braced herself for the harsh winds ahead.

**BACK AT THE SHELTER…**

May was greeted by a smother of hugs and affection from her brother and a clap on her back from Brock. "Great job braving the weather, May!" Brock exclaimed, smiling proudly like a big brother were proud of his little sister.

May merely nodded weakly and sat down to be further smothered with warmth and comfort. Somehow, she thought, she was far from being as comfortable as she had been with Drew… Despite the fact that back then, there were no thick blankets and hot chocolate.

As the eventful, stressful day came to a close, everyone settled into their bunks to recover their energy for the journey to the other side of the mountain the next day.

May, however, found it hard to sleep with thoughts of drew occupying her mind. It took no genius to realize that she's got feelings for him. Perhaps it may have come a bit too sudden but the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. It must have grown bit by bit over the past few years, she thought. But it was only the latest event that had made her realize it. She felt all tingly when she thought of him and found it awkward at times… After all, he was her rival and they had always been fighting…

She decided to take a slow walk out in the cold to clear her muddled thoughts. She chucked her gloved hands in her pockets and focused on the little puffs of warm air that escaped from her mouth. She shut her eyes for a bit to slowly let her lungs filter through the cool, night air…

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be resting right now?"

The familiar voice caused May to spin around to face the owner of the voice and she almost cried out when she realized it was her favourite green-eyed rival/crush. Her eyes widened but before she could do anything stupid, she composed herself and tried not to feel too awkward.

"I didn't think I'd see you here, Drew. Besides, I'm feeling much better. Just… needed to clear my thoughts," May replied, diverting her gaze to the starry night sky. She stayed that way in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of the stars and when she finally looked down to face Drew again, she realized he wasn't where he was anymore. He was practically breathing down her neck behind her.

May froze as she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck and almost melted at the pure affection of it all. Was is possible that Drew felt the same way about her as well? Drew, who could not control his desire to hold May in his arms again, had gone off behind her to get as close to her as possible. After some time in his cave thinking, he realized his affection for our favourite brunette and decided he do something about it…

And just like May, he had decided to take a walk to clear his thoughts about her… Obviously, his walk didn't go any better than May's… Or did it?

When he'd seen her, he couldn't help but get close to her. He just wanted her with him. He wanted to hold her to make sure she was alright… He was resistant at first, afraid that she may reject his affection but she seemed to show no sign of it yet as he stood behind her, his hands itching to hold her arms.

Void of any self control, he bent his head down and rested his face in the crook of her neck which willingly gave way to him. He inhaled her scent – hot chocolate. They both closed their eyes to revel in the closeness of their contact and Drew wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. May willingly complied, emotions rushing through her veins, pushing blood to her face. She placed her hands softly on Drew's wrists and before she knew it, she could feel Drew's soft, cold lips on the side of her neck.

This caused a jolt in both of them and she froze, her eyes wide open to face the night sky as Drew trailed his lips up and down her neck, nuzzling her in her embrace.

"May, I… Oh God I think I love you, May," Drew finally breathed out, his voice coming out in small pants. He was dizzy, his stomach doing major flip-flops but his exterior proved differently.

May could hardly move as she let his confession set in. When it finally did, she gripped his wrists harder and rested turned her head to face her favorite green-head. She sighed, dizzy with happiness.

"Same here, Drew. Same here," she replied in a soft voice.

Lightheaded, May allowed herself to melt in his embrace and felt herself sway with her new found love, as though doing a slow waltz. The stars twinkled and danced together with them as the slow wind murmured a little lullaby.

May deliberately stopped and turned around to face the handsome Drew. He stared into her eyes adoringly and traced a finger down her cheek to her jaw line, making May tremble. With a soft sigh, Drew confessed "You had me worried half to death when you passed out back there. When Ash took you away, I didn't think you'd be safe anymore and I –"

He was interrupted by May's finger placed lightly on his lips. "Drew, shut up," she said and moved her face closer and closer to his until their lips met. Sure enough, they never wanted their first kiss to end.

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A/N: WOOHOO!! End of oneshot! I sure enjoyed writing it and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I apologize for the fact that I don't know any of Drew's Pokemon… It's quite sad, but I don't exactly follow the show… I just follow the pairing. Nyahaha! It's quite a long oneshot but I'm proud of my work – It's my best so far, I believe. Reviews are much appreciated!

-Mecearth


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